ChangE
by niji-iro1
Summary: hiii *waves around sign that says 'newbie'* I just started writing this. It's the first part of a story about a genetically altered girl name Yume [dream in Japanese] who can control people's minds and behaviors. Kamui Shirou is a man shattered and alone.


[.ChangE.]  
  
// denotes thought or communications using telepathic abilities  
  
/ . / . / . /   
  
a / n - this is an original fiction written by me. i claim no rights to any other chara other than yume. she is mine. you can have her if you like, just ask. i write for fun, not for acknowledgement.   
  
/ . / . / . /  
  
She opened her eyes, long, charcoal lashes hiding green-gray irises that just peeked over fully dilated pupils of eyes that could only see a skewed world. Bubbles floated past her eyes and she tilted her head to the side. Her own pale reflection on the glass that encased her was the only source of letting herself know she was still alive and in one piece.  
  
Everything else felt like she was in a constant state of being in between death and life. She was used to seeing herself unclothed and locked inside the water. Or was it even water? She didn't even know what it was. It was wet, it was warm, and it was constantly a pale shade of yellow, tinted from the dim lights beneath the bottom of the glass. The wires hooked into her in various places on her body and provided her with nourishment and the other nutrients she needed to stay alive.   
  
She had never remembered a time without any of these.   
  
Encaged within a watery prison.  
  
Her entire life was within that cage. It had always been with test tubes, chemicals, white lab coats, reflective glasses, and the constant whir of machinery.  
  
A man dressed in a white lab coat, wearing goggles that pushed back messy black hair, held a clipboard and walked up to her little prison to take notes. He then abruptly walked away, checking on various machinery that lay scattered about.   
  
Daily routine, or was it even a day?   
  
Maybe it was a nightly routine..It was always dark where she was.   
  
Always dark and alone. Except for Sakomoto and the other various visitors that came, including the quite frequent visitor, Doctor Tenishi, the Project Yume Supervisor. To everyone on the project, he was simply know as doctor. Sakomoto was merely the Project's upkeeper. He stayed in the basement with Yume and made sure nothing went wrong.  
  
The sound of steel scraping along stone let Sakomoto know the doctor had entered for his daily check on Project Yume's progress.  
  
"Ahh, Project Yume is coming along quite nicely I see Sakomoto." An older man with glasses that reflected the dim light emitting from the bottom of her watery prison looked onto the woman that floated gracefully there. She was suspended in her prison for him to see.  
  
Dr. Kurai Tenishi and Sakomoto were in charge of Project Yume, but while Doctor Tenishi came and went, Sakomoto had always been around. He had always stayed in that room with her, always watching and recording her every developement.  
  
"Hai Doctor. She's doing exceptionally well. No signs of any flaws. Her diet and her exercise simulations seem to be coming along even better than before. She is improving with each passing day." Sakomoto stammered. He was quite bashful around the doctor, around anyone as a matter of fact.  
  
The doctor looked her over, watching her for a moment, then promptly turned around and left.  
  
"Keep up the good work Sakomoto. Maybe you'll get that promotion and get out of this dungeon." He laughed sarcastically as the mechanically operated door that lead in and out of the dark room opened and shut methodically.  
  
Sakomoto sighed and then glanced at Project Yume who was looking at him with sadness in her eyes.  
  
"If only you could talk. Then maybe I could get out of this hellhole.." Sakomoto sighed heavily as he went back to his mechanical checks, covering his eyes with his goggles.  
  
/I -can- talk Sakomoto./ She whispered.  
  
Sakomoto looked around, like a deer caught in the headlights. He lifted the goggles as his eyes frantically searched the room for any sign of an intruder.  
  
"Whoever said that is in BIG trouble. This is a Class C Restricted Area. Only authorized personal with permission from the Project Yume Supervisor are allowed to be down here." He yelled with his trembling voice. He sounded as if his life has been threatened, as if his very life depended on it.   
  
It did in a sense.   
  
If anyone were caught down there without permission on Sakomoto's watch, he would be fired. That would be the end of Sakomoto's almost non-existent career. Once you get fired from the X Corporation, you never work again. They take your file and they corrupt it so badly, even a local fast food restraunt wouldn't want to hire you.  
  
All Sakomoto did was go to college to learn how to help others, to genetically alter DNA so he could help heal those with genetic errors. He wanted to be a doctor, but no one wanted to take on a man with such a risky proffession in mind. So he went to X Corp and they hired him for the Yume Project.   
  
He was delighted.  
  
Sakomoto had found a job and had meaning to his life. He was not rejected or put down. He had something to live for, to look forward to.  
  
Project Yume was his life.   
  
He genetically altered and created Yume from her test tube birth up until now. He had dedicated his entire life to her and her development, to raising her to be the perfect being, unflawed and complete.  
  
Any flaws that did occur in Project Yume were regarded as fatal to the project and would cause the Project to be terminated immediately.  
  
Project Yume was the Ultimate Weapon.   
  
Of course, she was only the first, a prototype for her kind. She could control anything with her mind, but of course, she was not told of this power. Not until they could fully control her. Then, when she had been tested and control of her perfected, they would create hundreds, even thousands more to control war and peace, to create harmony amoung the people of the world. She would be able to control the firing of missiles and bombs, help the officers and commanding ranks, and even control the very thoughts of those fighting.   
  
They had been waiting for her to mature and for the right situation to present itself before they would test her full abilities.  
  
This would be a great achievement for the scientific community and an even greater success for the world.  
  
But, if a power like Project Yume fell into the wrong hands, if her plans somehow leaked out onto the black market and sold to the highest bidder, the world would not be able to defend itself. She was the world's savior and destroyer all in one. It all depended on a flick of the wrist and a roll of the dice.  
  
/Sakomoto, do not worry so. It's just me./ She whispered again, softly assuring him that he was in no danger. Her eyes flickered from green to a soft blue and back again.  
  
He twirled around and looked at her, imprisoned in the giant glass cage. He walked up to the glass and looked straight up at the figure floating in front of him.   
  
"How are you talking to me?" He looked at her, questioning her outloud.  
  
/Well, I do believe, since you cannot hear me through the liquid and glass that contain and suspend me, I am speaking to you through some sort of telepathic connection. You created me afterall, some sort of link between us would be prominent./ She replied almost robotically, staring down at him through the curtain of bubbles, hair gently waving in the light current they created.  
  
"I should report this right away.." Sakomoto spoke out loud as he frantically began recording the data and began monitoring her brainwaves and activity.  
  
/Sakomoto..I've been able to speak for quite some time now../ She stated, while he hustled about the room grabbing various charts and checking on the stats that the machines around Yume displayed.  
  
He stopped abruptly, letting various papers and miscellaneous items fall to the floor.  
  
"A..A while now?" He stammered, gathering his wits about him. "How long is a while, Yume?"  
  
Project Yume closed her eyes and a soft hum could be heard.  
  
/About four years. I remember I could first talk about the time you brought those magazines with naked women on them in here./ She said, without hesitation or embarrassment.  
  
Sakomoto blushed furiously.   
  
  
  
"Why did not you make it apparent sooner that you were able to communicate?" He asked her again, now finally getting a handle on the situation.   
  
Yume tilted her head to the left and blinked.  
  
  
  
/Nothing to speak of I suppose. No one besides you and Dr. Tenishi ever come in here and you both always appear so busy. I did not wish to intrude or cause a disturbance like I am now./ She smiled lightly at Sakomoto who seemed to be completely sucked into his work, scribbling frantically.  
  
Sakomoto looked up for a second, then back down.   
  
  
  
"Dr. Tenishi must be notified immediately." Sakomoto pressed a button on a nearby machine and another voice replied to the buzz it made. Sakomoto took his finger off the button.   
  
Yume looked on curiously as her hair floated around her body.  
  
/Sakomoto, how long have you been down here?/ She asked curiously as Sakomoto still ran around like mad.  
  
"About five years. And as soon as I report you I will get out of here and have a lot of money to show for all my work and dedication." He spoke, not as if he regretted the Project's large amounts of dedication, but as if it was a relief that everything was going according to plan.  
  
"Yes Sakomoto?" The voice that replied sounded very upset by the disturbance that Sakomoto had caused.  
  
"Officer, please notify the doctor that there has been a major breakthrough in the communications area." He stated, excitement lacing the edge of his words.  
  
"Will do Sakomoto." And the other voice was gone.  
  
Project Yume closed her eyes and awaited the oncoming storm.  
  
/ . /  
  
Within minutes the doctor was walking through the door, followed by a barrage of doctors and other associates that Sakomoto saw whenever something new had taken place with the Yume Project.  
  
Dr. Tenishi walked up to Sakomoto.  
  
"Yes yes, what is it man?" He asked Sakomoto is a low and very ominous tone. He looked at the man in front of him, then at the various glaring personnel behind him. "I have reports to make and a schedule to keep."  
  
Sakomoto gulped.  
  
"She..she can..speak doctor." He spoke softly and nervously. The doctor's eyes widened.  
  
"Are you serious? I thought we altered her so she was unable to communicate vocally." He said, scowling at the younger man.   
  
Sakomoto looked down.  
  
"She spoke to me, not with her voice, but with her mind." He stated flatly.  
  
At this statement, the doctor's eyes glittered with ambition.  
  
"This means.." The doctor started.  
  
Sakomoto looked up at the doctor, then over at Project Yume.  
  
"..she is ready to test, doctor." With those words, Sakomoto vanished into the darkness that now overwhelmed the room.  
  
"Doctor, we take it that Project Yume will be ready to test within the next 24 hours?" One of the shadows that followed the doctor in spoke up. Without looking behind him, the doctor nodded.  
  
"We will prepare for the testing, Tenishi. Do not disappoint us." With those words, the shadows and the doctor disappeared out of the room.   
  
The doctor looked up at Yume who still stayed suspended in her glass tube, bubbles still all around, hair still floating gently in the current the bubbles created, then he looked over at Sakomoto.  
  
"Good work Sakomoto. You may gather up your things and leave. You will be assigned a new position tomorrow. Your pay for Project Yume will arrive with your next paycheck." The doctor went over to pat Sakomoto on the back, but instead, he held a small gun behind his back. All Sakomoto could do was grin, his project had finally been completed! He could go home and relax. He could even work on getting a tan. But before Sakomoto could turn around to let the doctor see his face, he felt cold steel against the back of his head. Before he could even exhale, he saw his entire life flash before his eyes.   
  
He fell to the floor dead.  
  
"We can't have you going about telling anyone how to make more of these..Now, can we Sakomoto?" With that, the doctor left the room.  
  
/ . / . / 


End file.
